Fixing Our Mistakes
by EchoResonance
Summary: I was angry...and said something I never should have. And when she was proved right, I felt like the world's biggest jerk. I've been prolonging the time when I would have to make a choice. But now...I don't think I can procrastinate any longer, or I'll lose two amazing people. Can I fix this?
1. Who is She?

Korra was the Avatar from the southern water tribe, reincarnation of the Airbender Aang. She was first and foremost a Waterbender. When Tenzin visited the south pole to tell her that she would have to wait for him to teach her, she followed him back to Republic City. She found the city in disarray, and wanted to help restore it to the dream city that the Avatar before her had envisioned.

While she tried her hardest to learn Airbending, the element most opposite to her own hard-charging personality, it wouldn't come to her. In her frustration one night, she went against Tenzin's direct orders to remain on Air Temple Island in favor of visiting the Pro-bending Arena, home of her favorite sport. There she met the Fire-ferrets, and watched them dominate their competition. She went again for their next match, to find out that their Waterbender had bailed on them. She stepped in and saved them from having to forfeit, and while she had a rough start, she quickly got the hang of it.

In her short time there, she discovered an organization of non-benders calling themselves the Equalists, led by a masked man called Amon. They hated all benders, insisting that they used their power to oppress them. While some people, such as councilman Tarrlok, did indeed abuse their power, they couldn't understand that those people were few. Korra did her absolute best to fight against the Equalists, and even had to sneak into an Equalist rally to save one of her teammates from Amon, who claimed to have the power to permanently take away a person's bending. Korra didn't believe it, until she saw it happen.

And still she fought. She was brave and strong and loyal to a fault. She cared about every single person, and always wanted to help others. Sometimes her pride got in her way, and she stumbled, but she always picked herself up, dusted herself off, and tried to make things right. She wore her heart on her sleeve, never holding back how she felt or what she thought. Korra refused to ignore her instincts, and her instincts always told her that she needed to be truthful. She captured the hearts of benders and non-benders alike, and quickly gained the attention of both of her male teammates.

Her teammates were her first human friends, after the polar bear-dog Naga, and she spoke of them as being the very best friends she could have asked for. They didn't want to mess up their friendship, or their Pro-bending team, but both brothers had been captured unintentionally by her natural, if a bit raw, allure.


	2. I Screwed Up

I looked out the window of the aircraft, guilt swarming around me like a heavy fog. It ate at the heart beating in my chest and compacted into a hard lump in my throat. I couldn't look Korra in the eye. The things I had said to her, the things I had allowed myself to believe… It was unforgiveable.

How could I have been so stupid? Korra had not yet given me any reason to doubt her. Never had she given me reason to mistrust her. I could have at least given her the benefit of the doubt. If she had been wrong, I would have been appropriately angry, but she wasn't wrong! And I had told her that if she continued to pursue the case, she could consider our friendship over. How could she have felt, knowing the truth, and having her own friends shun her for it?

I turned my back on her, when she needed someone to help her and support her. Just because I was too blind and stubborn to listen to reason. Just because I didn't want to believe that my girlfriend's father could be an Equalist.

Asami… I knew she must feel awful about her father, but I couldn't convince myself to move to her side and talk to her. As bad as it sounded, Korra was my first priority. But I didn't know how I could talk to her either. I'd been a jerk to her, and anything I said now would likely sound hollow. Still, I had to try, didn't I?

Korra was standing at the back of the aircraft, looking out of the huge windows. Her arms were crossed in front of her; her head was bowed. Hesitantly, I walked the length of the hovercraft to her side. She didn't so much as twitch, even when I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Korra…" I started, unsure what I wanted to say. 'Sorry' seemed like a good option, but it didn't feel right.

"Yeah?" she sighed.

What did I want to ask her? Part of me wanted to kneel at her feet and beg forgiveness. Another part wanted to ask her how she had been so sure that Hiroshi was an Equalist.

"Does your offer to stay at the Air Temple still stand?" That won the coin toss, and it hadn't even been on my list.

"Of course it does," she said, looking over at me. "Asami's welcome too."

Normally, her voice would've been warm, friendly. Now, though, it was just tired and a little sad.

"Thank you so much."

"After everything she's been through, she's going to need you."

She looked back out the window, over Republic City. It used to be a peaceful place. But Korra hadn't known it then. She'd shown up as the Equalists became emboldened. Right before Amon had revealed that he could permanently strip a person of their bending. Korra was fighting for a city full of people she'd never met, against a group she'd never heard of. She hadn't known what the city was like before the Equalists, but she fought to return it to that state.

Korra was the bravest, most selfless person I had even known. She didn't like the situation between Asami and I, and yet she still tried her hardest to not come between us, to not let anything come between us. She was so different from Asami, who, despite being pretty capable of taking care of herself, just didn't have the mindset that was very overall helpful. She was a rich girl, and while she wasn't prissy, she was definitely used to having the best. The best food, the best clothes, and she didn't understand how to accept when things went south. Didn't understand that sulking about it didn't help. Korra knew how to face her problems. And I so did not want to lose her as my best friend.

"Korra, about what I said the other night—"

"Forget it, Mako," she said, shrugging away from the hand on her shoulder.

"Korra, I wanted to say that I—"

"I said forget it. You've made it quite clear that you don't trust me. It'd be better for both of us to just forget this so-called friendship."

"No, Korra, I—" I tried, horrified.

"That was your idea, wasn't it?" she demanded. "You said that if I kept trying to prove Hiroshi's guilt, I could consider our friendship over. Well, I kept trying, and _did_ prove Hiroshi's guilt, so you get your wish. Forget I ever existed."

"Korra!" I exclaimed. "I _do_ trust you! I would trust you with my _life_. It's just that…Hiroshi being an Equalist is not an easy thing to believe, even now!"

"How do you think I felt?" she snapped. "I didn't like it either Mako. But I knew what I heard and I knew what I had to do. And I did it even though it hurt, even though all my _friends_ turned their backs on me."

And she turned on her heel, and strode away, into one of the side rooms on the aircraft.

I stood where I was, frozen, paralyzed in horror, eyes fixed on that closed door. Some part of my mind registered that my mouth was hanging wide open, but I couldn't remember how to close it. My eyes stung painfully, and that lump in my throat felt as though it were growing, bigger and bigger, until I could hardly breathe.

I screwed up.

~...~

"Hey, thanks for sending the Air Acolytes to help with the move," I said as I got off the boat. I don't know what I hoped for. A smile? A kind word? Whatever I expected, I didn't get it.

"Yeah, they were a huge help," added Asami. "Such tireless workers."

"No problem," Korra smiled at her.

She looked stuck somewhere between amused, startled, and disbelieving at the amount of luggage the Acolytes were carrying.

"I thought you were only bringing a few things," she muttered.

Honestly, trying to move Asami out of her home had been a nightmare. She wanted all of her things to go with her; her clothes, her makeup, her jewelry, _everything_. What my brother and I had managed to talk her down to was about a fifth of everything she had wanted to bring.

"Believe me, it could've been worse," I chuckled.

She allowed her eyes to flick over to me for a moment. They were cold and hard as ice as they met my gaze. That horrible pit in my stomach grew larger. That terrible, sickening realization that I had hurt one of my best friends, maybe irreparably. Could she ever forgive me? What would I have to do?

"C'mon up, guys," Korra said, breaking my gaze and waving everyone up the stairs.

Before we could get far, the three little Airbender kids landed on the walkway and started running around and around Naga. Ikki asked what Pabu was, and Jinora went into a long-winded description of the fire-ferret.

When Jinora had finished talking, we all started up the long walk to the air temple. Meelo walked beside Asami, staring fixedly.

"You're pretty," he said. "Can I have some of your hair?"

"Looks like I have some competition," I chuckled.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I heard Asami suck in an awed breath. The Air Temple was an awe-inspiring sight, beautiful in a rustic sort of way. Bolin and I had both seen the island before, but it was still amazing.

Ikki started talking again, in that high-pitched and extremely fast way she had. Something about a tour, the temple her Grandpa Aang built, and then where the Sky-bison lived.

"I have a couple questions," said Bolin. I sighed. "Is this an all vegetarian island? Is that where you train Airbending? Do we all have to wear Air Acolyte clothes? Do we each get our own Sky-bison? And how many trees are on this island?"

His questions came as rapid-fire as Ikki's answers.

"Yes, yes, no, no. Ten thousand, five hundred and fifty-two."

We all blinked in surprise. After a moment of stupefied silence, I decided to ask a more relevant question.

"So, where are we staying?"

"You're a boy. You have to sleep on the boy's side."

"I'll show you the way," offered Jinora.

"Meelo, why don't you go with the guys?" Korra prompted.

The little guy backed away from Asami, lifting his hand in farewell.

"We shall meet again, beautiful woman." Then he followed us away from the remaining three girls.

"This room is nice," said Bolin, tossing his things on the floor and flinging himself onto his bed.

I nodded noncommittally, going to the window and looking out over Yue Bay. I could see Aang's statue from where our room sat. He had been the Avatar before Korra. He'd been an Airbender, just a kid taking on the entire Fire Nation decades ago. He had his friends, Sokka and Katara, and Toph and Zuko. Zuko was oldest one, sixteen, a ridiculed prince of the Fire Nation, who had realized that his father, Firelord Ozai, had been a fool. Sokka was the only one who wasn't a bender, until Suki from the Kyoshi Warriors came along. Toph had been the world's very first metal-bender, had run away from her family in order to teach Aang Earthbending, and was Lin Beifong's mother. Katara was Sokka's brother, a Waterbender, both from the southern water tribe. She had, from the very beginning, captured the Avatar's interest, and in time, they grew to love each other, eventually having three children: Tenzin, Kia, and Boomy. Katara was the only one of them who was still alive.

And Aang. Aang, the Avatar before Korra. He had made peace with entire nations, had mended bonds some hadn't realized had broken. He'd forgiven Prince Zuko for the teenager's many attempts to capture him, so that Zuko would teach him the art of Firebending.

My best friend was the new Avatar, the reincarnation of Airbender Aang. Apparently, Korra and Aang were polar opposites. I wondered what would have happened, if I had gotten into the same kind of fight with Aang. Would he have forgiven me? Would he have given me another chance?

"Bro, wondering about Aang isn't gonna fix the problem between you and Korra," said Bolin with an undertone of amusement.

"Hu-what?" I started, turning to look at my brother. He was grinning.

"No, I'm not a mind reader. But you're kinda predictable."

I grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through my hair.

"What should I do?"

"Well, I'd say talk to Tenzin. Mr. Spiritual will probably have some advice for you," Bolin advised.

"Good idea. Thanks Bro," I sighed.

"Anytime."

I clapped him over the shoulder on my way out.


	3. Tenzin's Advice

"Ahh…Tenzin?" I said hesitantly.

"Hello, Mako," said the Air master, glancing up from the weird Airbending contraption. "Do you need something?"

"Uhm, actually, I wanted to ask you something," I said.

"Alright. Ask away."

"Ah, in private?"

There was no way I couldn't notice that the person currently dancing through those spinning gates was the very person I needed advice about. She was spinning and weaving in the middle of that weird set up, not so much as brushing the moving gates as she tried to pass through.

Tenzin followed my gaze, and smiled slightly.

"Of course. Would you like to go for a walk?"

I nodded gratefully and followed him away from the training area.

"You are confused, aren't you?" Tenzin said, once we were out of earshot.

"Yeah. How'd you guess?"

"Well, partly because I've seen how you look at Korra, and how you look at Asami. Also, because I was in the exact same situation when I was your age."

"Really?" I said in surprise. "With who?"

Tenzin sighed.

"I'm surprised Korra hasn't told you."

"We haven't exactly been on speaking terms," I noted dryly.

"Pema and I weren't always together. When we were your age, we were best friends. But I was with…I was with Lin."

I stared in open-mouthed amazement.

"You're kidding?" I managed to say. "You and _Beifong_?"

Again, the Air master sighed.

"Yes, myself and Beifong. We'd been growing apart, for all sorts of reasons. We tried to keep it together, of course, but the simple truth was that it just wasn't going to work. That was when Pema told me how she felt. And the rest is…well, you know the rest."

"And our chief of police didn't throw her in jail?" I wondered, half curious, half amused.

"Oh, it wasn't for lack of trying," Tenzin replied.

We walked for a minute in silence.

"So…What should I do?" I asked finally.

"Follow your heart," he replied. "Deep down, you know who you need. Like I said before, I've seen how you look at both of them. You need to buckle down, think about it, and talk to both of them. Uh, _not_ at the same time, though," he added.

I tried to smile, but if it looked half as brittle as it felt, it wasn't the least bit convincing. Tenzin, compassionate man that he was, sensed my discomfort, and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's best to solve your problems, now, before they snowball out of control," said Tenzin seriously.

I nodded. He smiled.

"She won't be mad at you forever, Mako," he told me, then turned and hurried back in the direction of the training grounds.

I watched him go, then walked down to the docks to think.

Asami. Korra. Asami. Korra.

Asami was my girlfriend. I had been into her from the second I first met her. Right after she hit me with her moped. We'd been on several dates, we'd kissed. She was a great girl, with an amazing personality. She could fight like I would never have believed a prissy rich girl could, and she drove like a madman. She was talented, and funny, and smart, and beautiful. She was so kind, and warm. My life before her had been fine. I had my brother, and I had Korra. To say that Asami had certainly changed my life hugely would be a colossal understatement…but I could say the same thing about Korra.

When Asami and I were out on our dates, I had fun. She was funny and smart, and surprisingly empathetic. She could tell when something was bothering me, and when I really needed some alone time. But, despite how awesome she was, whenever we were on our dates, I would catch myself thinking about Korra. What she was doing. Who she might be with. How on earth she could be so understanding in the middle of this mess with Asami.

Korra was my best friend. She'd shown up out of nowhere from the southern water tribe, and slid right into place in our Pro-Bending team when Hasook had ditched us. She'd saved our lives, and others, countless times. She was brave, and loyal, and strong, and smart. She had a raw beauty, with her taut, toned muscles that spoke of years of training, and those bright, electric blue eyes that were such a stark contrast to her golden-brown skin and chocolate colored hair. She didn't try to look good; she just did. Her best friend was a polar bear-dog named Naga. She didn't care what most people thought about her. Korra just wanted to do what was right. She wanted to help people. We'd kissed once, and that moment was forever branded into my brain.

_Her dark brown hair had been pulled out of its wolf tail after the match. She was standing out on a balcony with her back to the arena, leaning against one of the pillars. The cool night breeze played with her loose hair, and made the pelt around her waist ripple. _

_My stomach had been in knots since the end of the match. I knew I had to talk to her, to tell her the _real_ truth, but I had no idea how. The very thought of admitting it made me want to cringe from humiliation. I would seem like that stupid guy who liked every girl he met; who couldn't keep his hormones under control, and who lied about it to a girl who was very upfront about how she felt. Lying to one of the most honest people you've ever met is crappy to begin with, especially when honesty is one of the things you admire most about them, but to do that about something so important to both of you? Was such a thing even forgivable?_

"_Look," I began. "Sometimes, you can just be so infuriating—"_

"_Save your breath," she interrupted. "You've already made it clear how you feel about me."_

"_No," I sighed. "I haven't. As much as you drive me crazy, I also thing you're pretty amazing."_

_Slowly, she turned around._

"_So…you _do_ like me?" she said hesitantly._

"_Yeah. But I like Asami too, and it's all just so confusing right now and—" but I never got the rest of my sentence out._

_That was when she had lunged forward and pressed her lips to mine. She had to lean up to reach, but after a slight moment of shocked hesitation, I closed my eyes and leaned down to kiss her back. _

_Her lips were warm and soft beneath mine, slanted across my mouth. I leaned in closer, catching a hint of a smell I'd never noticed on her before. Like…Like vanilla and ice. I could taste in on her lips too, that contradictory sense of warm and cool at the same time. The breeze around us began to feel warm, or maybe that was just me. My entire body had suddenly gone soft, pliant, hot. It was unfamiliar to me, but I enjoyed the feeling._

_Some part of me knew I shouldn't be doing this, but that part was small and easily silenced. The one that pulled away was Korra._

Asami was an amazing girl, and I trusted her. I really liked her, but…not in the way I kept trying to convince myself. Not as more than a friend. Not like what I felt for Korra. Korra I trusted with my life, absolutely and with no restrictions. I wanted to be with Asami, because, like I said, she was awesome. A relationship with her would be so simple, so easy, compared to a relationship the Korra, the Avatar. I wanted it. But I didn't have it.

The daughter of Hiroshi Sato was amazing. Asami was cool and calm, always prepared to console me and try to solve my problems. If something was wrong, she would try to cheer me up, and while I appreciated that, it wasn't what I needed.

I needed someone strong. Someone who wouldn't try to make me feel better, but make me get off of my butt and make me work it all out. Someone to make me work for what I needed, what I wanted. What I needed was someone who wasn't afraid to be honest, even if it hurt me. I didn't need a shelter: I needed a drive. Motivation. Someone to get my butt in gear.

Korra was that someone. She could be nice, and she could be comforting, but when push came to shove, she was tough as nails. She gave everyone what they needed, not what they wanted.

And I needed her.

I bowed my head, as I finally allowed myself to acknowledge what I had refused to realize before. I like Asami. But I loved Korra.


	4. Please Forgive Me

"Jinora, have you seen Asami?" I asked.

Tenzin's oldest daughter shook her head.

"No, sorry," she answered. "She might be at the gardens. I know Ikki wanted to show her the flowers."

"Thanks Jinora," I told her.

"Sure, Firebender," she laughed.

I rolled my eyes, and headed off in the direction of the gardens. Korra had shown me where they were after she helped me save Bolin from nearly getting "equalized" by Amon. However, when I got there, neither Asami nor Ikki were kneeling in the flower beds. In the middle of the gardens, there was a tall gazebo, with rose vines climbing up the intricate latticework. Standing in the gazebo was Pema. She was leaning against the railing, looking up at the sky like she was in a daydream. One hand rested on her swollen belly. She looked deep in thought.

Not wanting to bother her, I turned to leave, but her voice called after me.

"Mako, come here for a second."

I turned and walked slowly to the beautiful decorative building. Pema's bright green eyes were fixed on me, and she was smiling slightly.

"Asami is in her room. Korra's training down by the water."

"Thank you, Pema," I answered.

"You know," she said before I could leave. "It's not fair to any of you."

"What isn't?" I wondered, although I already had an idea.

"Not being able to make up your mind. If you don't like Asami, you need to be upfront about it. Same with Korra. I know they've both been nothing but honest with you, and you and I both know that they deserve the same."

I gave a half smile.

"Yeah, I'm already on it. I was talking to Tenzin earlier…He helped a lot."

Pema smiled. "I'm glad. Now, go find them."

I nodded, and turned to head toward the girl's rooms.

"Oh, and Mako?" Pema shouted. "You may want to keep some fire handy. Girls don't always take rejection well."

Well. Great. That was a huge load off my shoulders. Oh, wait. No, it wasn't. Now I felt worse than before.

~...~

Well, Pema had been wrong. I hadn't needed any fire with Asami, although for a while there I was wondering. She'd been at her window when I came in. We'd sat next to each other on her bed, and I stripped myself utterly bare of all my lies. I told her what I'd realized, what I thought, and how I felt. She hadn't been happy with me—there's a big surprise—but she had said that she'd already half expected it. She told me she'd seen the way I looked at Korra—okay, seriously, how did I look at Korra, and how did everyone _see_?—and she wasn't going to try to change my mind.

Then she'd shooed me out of her room, telling me to go find the Avatar. I think, honestly, she went easy on me because she suspected I'd have twice as hard a time with Korra. And, to tell the truth, she was probably right. I had gone to tell Asami that I couldn't be with her anymore. I was going to find Korra to tell her my true feelings, and somehow, I felt more sick at the thought of _that_ than I had when I was getting ready to break up with Asami.

Pema was right. Sort of. Korra _was_ down by the shore. But it didn't look like she was training much. She was sitting on the ground, boots laying behind her, and the water was washing over her bare feet. Her hair was tied up in its normal wolf tail, and the slight breeze played with flyaway strands.

The water seemed angry. It was dark and gray, boiling and roaring in huge waves out around the statue of Aang. I wondered if Korra was subconsciously controlling the water; if it was reflecting her own dark mood. Here's to hoping not, or I might not live long enough to tell her the extent of what I needed to say.

"Quit lurking, Mako, I know you're there," she said curtly.

I jumped in guilty surprise, before remembering that I wasn't lurking. I was here to talk to her, and she needed to know I was there so that I could do just that.

"Korra, I need to talk to you," I said, humiliated when my voice shook.

She waved me on without bothering to turn around, and I walked over to stand by her side. Hesitantly, I sat down on the sand beside her. She said nothing. The storm was reflected in her aquamarine eyes, now darkened to teal.

"So talk."

"Korra, what I said the other night was completely out of line," I said without preamble. "I should never have said what I did, and I didn't mean it. I just thought you were after Hiroshi because he was Asami's dad and you were jealous. I'm more sorry than you know, and whatever I have to do to prove it to you, I'll do. I never meant to hurt you like I did. I do trust you, more than anyone. I'm begging you to believe me. I have never felt like more of a jerk than when I didn't stand by you. You were doing the right thing alone, no matter how much it hurt you, and we should have put more faith in you. We should have trusted you, and we didn't, and Korra, I'm so sorry. You must hate me."

By the end of that speech, the lump in my throat had grown so big that it was a wonder I could still speak. Saying it out loud made it more real, and I realized just how bad the situation was. Hot tears began to leak from the corners of my eyes, zigzagging down my cheeks, sliding onto my neck and standing my shirt.

Something in my voice must have made Korra turn around; when she did, her face lost the harsh lines of anger. Her bright eyes widened in stunned disbelief.

"Mako, are you _crying_?" she asked in shock.

I didn't answer, partly because I thought it was fairly obvious what I was doing, and partly because I could no longer force sound past the chunk of ice that made my throat feel three times bigger.

She reached up with one slender hand to touch my cheek. Those long, thin fingers brushed lightly across my skin, catching and taking away the tears. She adopted a look of great compassion and resignation.

"Mako," she sighed. "I could never hate you."

I leaned into her touch, and was grateful when she didn't withdraw it.

"You…aren't mad?"

She snorted derisively.

"Yeah, I'm still mad. But I don't hate you. Look, you can be so infuriating at times, but even though sometimes you drive me crazy, I also think you're pretty amazing."

I laughed in spite of myself as she quoted my words from that night.

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"Huh?"

I took a deep breath, and let my words out in a rush.

"I broke up with Asami."

She pulled back, and gave me a flabbergasted look.

"Why? I thought you liked her?"

I pressed my lips together and looked away.

"I did. I do. But not…not the way I thought."

She frowned and tilted her head, prompting me to continue.

"I talked to Tenzin," I started. "He told me about him and Pema and Beifong. That whole story, and it hit really close to home. His advice was to just sit down, and really think about it. What I liked about each of you. What I needed. And Korra, what I need isn't in Asami. What I need is you."

I reached out and took her hand. For one, agonizing moment, she said nothing. Korra didn't move, didn't react at all, and for a moment, I truly believed that whatever she said, she wouldn't accept my pathetic apology. Then a light slowly entered her eyes, growing brighter and brighter until they positively glowed. Her full lips curled up in a smile, and her fingers tightened on mine. She leaned up, eyes drifting shut. I leaned in as well, letting my eyes close as I closed my lips over hers.

What I felt right then, what I hadn't felt with Asami, was what I'd always wanted to feel. The fire that kindled beneath my skin at the feel of her mouth against mine was ten times stronger than it had been that night on the balcony, and was a hundred times stronger than anything I had ever felt with Asami. The blood roared in my ears, it pulsed beneath my lips as they moved hungrily over Korra's. The flames grew hotter and wilder with every second, until I thought I was about to go up in smoke.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer, until she was straddling my lap. Her hands slid into my hair, stroking the nape of my neck with the lightest of touches.

I broke away, trailing my lips down to her neck and pressing a quick kiss to the hollow of her throat. She shivered.

"I love you, Korra," I whispered, nuzzling her neck and hugging her tightly.

Her hands left my hair so that she could wrap her arms around my shoulders and return my embrace. She leaned her head into the crook of my neck as well.

"I love you too, Mako," she answered, her breath tickling my ear. Then she pushed me back and looked out over the ocean. I followed her gaze. The water was marginally calmer than it had been ten minutes ago.

"Now, do you want to let me up so that we can spar a little?" Korra asked. "Still mad at you, and I'd love to blow off a little steam."

I laughed and agreed, provided she only used Firebending. She conceded, and led me to an area fit for a little one-on-one.


	5. Who She Is

Korra was the Avatar from the southern water tribe, reincarnation of the Airbender Aang. She was first and foremost a Waterbender. When Tenzin visited the south pole to tell her that she would have to wait for him to teach her, she followed him back to Republic City. She found the city in disarray, and wanted to help restore it to the dream city that the Avatar before her had envisioned.

While she tried her hardest to learn Airbending, the element most opposite to her own hard-charging personality, it wouldn't come to her. In her frustration one night, she went against Tenzin's direct orders to remain on Air Temple Island in favor of visiting the Pro-bending Arena, home of her favorite sport. There she met the Fire-ferrets, and watched them dominate their competition. She went again for their next match, to find out that their Waterbender had bailed on them. She stepped in and saved them from having to forfeit, and while she had a rough start, she quickly got the hang of it.

In her short time there, she discovered an organization of non-benders calling themselves the Equalists, led by a masked man called Amon. They hated all benders, insisting that they used their power to oppress them. While some people, such as councilman Tarrlok, did indeed abuse their power, they couldn't understand that those people were few. Korra did her absolute best to fight against the Equalists, and even had to sneak into an Equalist rally to save one of her teammates from Amon, who claimed to have the power to permanently take away a person's bending. Korra didn't believe it, until she saw it happen.

And still she fought. She was brave and strong and loyal to a fault. She cared about every single person, and always wanted to help others. Sometimes her pride got in her way, and she stumbled, but she always picked herself up, dusted herself off, and tried to make things right. She wore her heart on her sleeve, never holding back how she felt or what she thought. Korra refused to ignore her instincts, and her instincts always told her that she needed to be truthful. She captured the hearts of benders and non-benders alike, and quickly gained the attention of both of her male teammates.

Her teammates were her first human friends, after the polar bear-dog Naga, and she spoke of them as being the very best friends she could have asked for. They didn't want to mess up their friendship, or their Pro-bending team, but both brothers had been captured unintentionally by her natural, if a bit raw, allure.

She was infuriating, self righteous, and extremely proud. She didn't need anybody, and refused to acknowledge that she was scared. But that was because she was used to not having help, and so she believed she didn't need it. And she didn't tell people when she was scared, because she knew she could fight her fears. They wouldn't get the better of her, so why bother projecting her anxiety? She was infuriating because she was nothing but honest, even when what she had to say was better left unsaid, and because even though one should never assume they're right, more often than not, she was. Her pride didn't let her confide in people when something was bothering her, insisting she handle it on her own. That made her strong, but it also made her fragile.

Korra was the Avatar from the southern water tribe. She was beautiful and kind and absolutely crazy. And I wouldn't have fallen in love with her if she was any other way.


End file.
